Kitchener Rangers 2018-19 Season Thread (Part 3)

[bobber]

Couple of things. A puck hit the empty seat beside us and hit a woman in the row behind right in the eye breaking her glasses and cutting her. Serious injury. While they were patching her up even though she was in a bit of shock they were making her fill out papers to sign.
I thought they should have had a doctor their in stead of first aid.
We sit behind the glass down low in the corner and have had two ladies hit in the face in the last 2 years. Really have to be aware of flying pucks. Secondly did anyone else see the drunk with no shirt on that several police officers arrested and had on the floor screaming like a mountain lion in the East Ave entrance end . Not sure why people have a need to get hammered at a hockey game and act out. The reason the seats beside us were empty the guys that bought them sit up in the bar half pissed the last 2 periods. To each their own I guess.

 

[Tim Wallach]

Secondly did anyone else see the drunk with no shirt on that several police officers arrested and had on the floor screaming like a mountain lion in the East Ave entrance end . Not sure why people have a need to get hammered at a hockey game and act out.

I guess Hunter was here on a scouting trip?

Seriously though, to each their own for sure, but I'm with you. I come to watch hockey. Never understood why you come to a hockey game to stand around the bar drinking.

 

[Hendy]

I guess Hunter was here on a scouting trip?

Seriously though, to each their own for sure, but I'm with you. I come to watch hockey. Never understood why you come to a hockey game to stand around the bar drinking.

Especially with the price of beer. Buy 4 and you could have had a case.

 

[bobber]

Especially with the price of beer. Buy 4 and you could have had a case.

Buck a swallow now!

 

[MatthewsMoustache]

every game Ryan Stepien plays gives me more and more hope about first of all the trade and secondly the future. he’s realistically a 30-35 point scorer if he had played here all season (in his sophomore year, couldn’t be a rangers pick!). gives you a decent core to build around in Valade, Langdon, Stepien, Sebrango, Vukojevic and self proclaimed spark plug Mike Petizian among other. not to mention assets for trades and a good amount of 2nds. a good pick or 2 this year and a goalie and this gives us something to look forward to

 

[bcspirit]

every game Ryan Stepien plays gives me more and more hope about first of all the trade and secondly the future. he’s realistically a 30-35 point scorer if he had played here all season (in his sophomore year, couldn’t be a rangers pick!). gives you a decent core to build around in Valade, Langdon, Stepien, Sebrango, Vukojevic and self proclaimed spark plug Mike Petizian among other. not to mention assets for trades and a good amount of 2nds. a good pick or 2 this year and a goalie and this gives us something to look forward to

Give him ice time and Ryan will give you a solid effort, tireless worker and he has a nice shot in close. Hope he does well there really hated to see him go but have loved having Murray so I guess it was a good trade for all involved.

 

[OhSheila]

A good win in Erie. Joey G with the hatty and an assist. Both Vukojevic and Cameron were plus 4.

 

[rangersblues]

I never thought I'd say this , this season.

Our top 6 forwards have been pretty good all season, especially since Joey G has been moved up front again. Some would say they are overachieving but 50 games in that's not the case. Same goes for our pp which has been near the top all season. The defense has settled down. IF Richardson holds up, we will have an interesting first playoff round to say the least.

 

[EvenSteven]

I never thought I'd say this , this season.

Our top 6 forwards have been pretty good all season, especially since Joey G has been moved up front again. Some would say they are overachieving but 50 games in that's not the case. Same goes for our pp which has been near the top all season. The defense has settled down. IF Richardson holds up, we will have an interesting first playoff round to say the least.

I agree. But there's two ways to look at the Rangers. Glass half full as you have, and the glass half empty.

Half Full:

Everything you've said. As it stands now, it looks like we'll finish 5th or at worst 6th. That'll allow us to give our first round opponent a bit of a hard time. We'd look to play either Saginaw or Guelph. We'll beat neither team but we may give Saginaw a little trouble - maybe more than most expect.

As far as our net goes, Pfiel seems to have been the better goalie. McKee has been playing the "#1" Richardson vs the poorer teams in an effort to win the games we "should win" and start Pfiel vs the teams we'll likely lose to anyway. But IMO, Pfiel has played better vs tougher competition than Richardson has vs lesser competition. If this continues to be the case, I start the playoffs with Pfiel.


Half Empty:

Sure our top two lines are playing great. They are the prime reason for the success of the PP. But none of them except for Stepien will be around when we are slated to contend again. (20-21). Looking at our roster, the 01 group up front leave a lot to be desired. After Stepien, we have no quality who'll be around two years from now. There aren't even any decent OA candidates up front among our 00's. Damiani will be gone and we know what we have in Guest. As far as I'm concerned, that's a grim outlook. Our 02 group had better be able to pick up the slack.

One thing that could be done to bring in a quality 01 forward for the 20-21 season is to complete a deadline deal next deadline involving Damiani. It could be a two part deal where Damiani goes to a contender at the deadline and in the off season, a quality 01 F comes here to complete the deal. Much the same kind of deal that we did with Windsor involving Bracco / Stanley. For instance, Saginaw is set to contend again next year. Perhaps a deal comparable to the Bracco to Windsor deal is made with Damiani going to Saginaw. Then in the off season, Nick Porco comes our way to complete the deal.

The bright light going into 20-21 is our D. I want to see more of Rupoli before I consider him an OA candidate, but MacPherson (OA) along with Vukojevic, Xhekaj, and Sebrango is a good foundation for a contending team.

 

[MatthewsMoustache]

Looking at 20-21, here's what (as of now) they will have, some predictions and what needs to be addressed.

Forwards:
Isaac Langdon- drafted to NHL rounds 4-6. secondary scoring line. 50 point range.
Mike Petizian- shutdown line/penalty killer. 30-35 points.
Joseph Serpa- depending on how he develops, could anchor the 4th line or be on that shutdown line. 25-35 points.
Ryan Stepien- NHL drafted round 4/5. two-way presence on the top line. 60-65 points.
Carter Tresoor- see Joseph Serpa.
Reid Valade- drafted round 5/6. speedy threat on secondary line with Langdon. 45-50 points.

Trade/Release/Waive/Etc.- Graham Dickerson, Matt Gordon, Eric Guest

Defence:
Justin MacPherson- OA D, could play with either Vukojevic or Sebrango. 30ish points.
Donovan Sebrango- drafted rounds 3-5. Top 4 d. 40-50 points.
Michael Vukojevic- drafted ronds 2-4. Go to guy. 50-55 points.
Arber Xhekaj- solid shutdown D. 15-20 points

Trade/Release/Waive/Etc.- Joseph Rupoli


My wish list:
- top end import goalie and forward
- top line forward at trade deadline or earlier
- top 4 D at trade deadline or earlier
- OA forward
- an upgrade to Rupoli. OA, RD preferably

 

[EvenSteven]

Additions can / will be made between this off season and the 2021 trade deadline.

My point about our graduating forward group (01's and OA's) being much less than impressive is that it will be a near impossibility to get that forward group to be close to the caliber of our graduating forward group of last year - the last time we contended.

We had a stellar graduating forward group: Sherwood (OA). Mascherin. Bunnaman. Brown. Smith. There are some elite players there.

Today, Stepien is the only guy who has a chance of being such a player.
If we are to contend in 20-21, MM will have to trade our way into being a contender as he did last year.
All the more reason to sell off our graduating assets by the next deadline. If guys like Meireles, Yantsis and Garreffa are on this roster beyond the next deadline, the likelihood of 20-21 being a contending year for us is very slim.
Even then, we'll have a hard time putting together a graduating forward group that comes close to last year's.

 

[GeoBlue]

Additions can / will be made between this off season and the 2021 trade deadline.We had a stellar graduating forward group: Sherwood (OA). Mascherin. Bunnaman. Brown. Smith. There are some elite players there.

Yes, but 3 of 5 were acquired via trade and did not even play a full year in Kitchener. So in relation to what you are saying, you should only be considering Mascherin and Bunnaman.

 

[EvenSteven]

Yes, but 3 of 5 were acquired via trade and did not even play a full year in Kitchener. So in relation to what you are saying, you should only be considering Mascherin and Bunnaman.

My point was that because of the lack of quality that we are going to have among our graduating players in the 20-21 season, to contend we will have to trade our way into contender ship as we did last year.

Sure, Bunnaman and Mascherin were our only two homegrown forwards. This year we have Stepian who looks to maybe be in that ballpark. Nobody else. So, as it stands now, to contend in 2021, we will have to trade our way into contender ship again.

Because we only have Stepien who looks to be of that ilk, we'll even have to make more trades to get to where we were last year up front unless we score an elite import forward or if one or both of Valade / Langdon contribute a heck of a lot more than guys like Meireles did offensively last season. Because none of our 98's nor our imports were top six players last year on a contender, we had to make the trades we did to contend. Our 1st round picks and our imports are supposed to be elite contributors. As an 18 year old, Meireles couldn't cut it on the top six. Ditto the imports. Hence the trades.

That will leave us floundering the following couple of seasons after 20-21 where we are this year and next.

MM said that he wants this team to be a threat to contend just about every year (London model). To do that, we have to have above average drafting and homegrown talent. If we trade our way into contender ship for the 2021 season, we will likely be without our 2020 1st rounder and a handful of high picks. Not a good starting point as we are finding out this year.

 

[three dog night]

Hamilton in town tonight should be an interesting game.

 

[bobber]

Good crowd for a cold windy eve.
Riley took a high sticking and then Mereiles took a two minute almost simultaneously and that put the Rangers behind the 8th ball. They made a game of it in the third. Bulldogs have some size that gave the Rangers issues at times.

 

[EvenSteven]

Good crowd for a cold windy eve.
Riley took a high sticking and then Mereiles took a two minute almost simultaneously and that put the Rangers behind the 8th ball. They made a game of it in the third. Bulldogs have some size that gave the Rangers issues at times.

Taking the penalties we did sealed our doom. Otherwise, we win the game. Pfeil was great in net. Could have been a lot worse by the end of the second if not for him.

Can't blame him for the PP goals against. Especially the ones scored when we were down two men. I still see him as the starter going into the playoffs. The experience would do him well going into next season.

 

[GeoBlue]

Can anyone explain those penalties in the first. Did Damiani get 2 x 2 minute penalties or one 4 minute penalty? If the latter, I thought those were served in their entirety? The reason I ask is that after Mereiles took his 2 and Hamilton scored, was expecting Mereiles to come out of the box. Instead, they continued with a 2 man advantage.

 

[OhSheila]

Riley got 4 minutes for high sticking. Meireles got his few seconds later.

Since he was first in the box, and still had time remaining to serve, Meireles must continue to serve his.

Had the goal been scored with less than 2 minutes left in the Damiani penalty, Meireles would have been released from the penalty box if he still had time to serve.

Those 4 minutes penalties are broken down into two, 2 minute segments.

So when a player gets a 4 minute penalty and a team scores with say 2;45 left in the 4 minute penalty, he stays in the box. If they scored with under 2 minutes left, he leaves the box.

My biggest question was why it took the video goal judge so long to approve Hamilton's empty net goal lol.

Not so nice to have those penalties that put us behind. Nice to have that huge effort in the 3rd and the 2 short handed goals. Another strong game for Greg Meireles.

 

[bobber]

Riley got 4 minutes for high sticking. Meireles got his few seconds later.

Since he was first in the box, and still had time remaining to serve, Meireles must continue to serve his.

Had the goal been scored with less than 2 minutes left in the Damiani penalty, Meireles would have been released from the penalty box if he still had time to serve.

Those 4 minutes penalties are broken down into two, 2 minute segments.

So when a player gets a 4 minute penalty and a team scores with say 2;45 left in the 4 minute penalty, he stays in the box. If they scored with under 2 minutes left, he leaves the box.

My biggest question was why it took the video goal judge so long to approve Hamilton's empty net goal lol.

Not so nice to have those penalties that put us behind. Nice to have that huge effort in the 3rd and the 2 short handed goals. Another strong game for Greg Meireles.

Nice explanation of the confusing penalty situation Sheila. The Bull Dogs do have some big players with a nice skill set. A couple of them can really move and handle the puck at high speed.

 

[MatthewsMoustache]

one thing I’d like to see the Rangers do is carry more OHL ready guys throughout the year. for example, the Knights always come in to training camp with around 16-18 forwards (the rangers barely even have that many at camp total) that are OHL ready. they start the season rotating guys in and out and assign some to jr. b. eventually some guys outplay the others and they have legit trade pieces that they sell off to the highest bidders. when I mean OHL ready, I don’t consider Tresoor, Dickerson, Serpa or Gordon as a part of that list. the 4 of those guys have combined for 1 secondary assist in 70 games

then again, scouting and drafting the guys to do that factors in

 

[OhSheila]

FYI. Matt Gordon, Cambridge Redhawks. 12 games, 3 goals, 2 assists.

 

[GeoBlue]

So when a player gets a 4 minute penalty and a team scores with say 2;45 left in the 4 minute penalty, he stays in the box. If they scored with under 2 minutes left, he leaves the box.

I get that. It just seemed weird and "not right". After the first goal, they took time off Damiani's one penalty? It did not seem right that after the first PP goal, Hamilton would continue with a 2 man advantage. It would make more sense that Meireles leave the box after the first goad and Hamilton continue with the one man advantage. Not saying it was the wrong call as I do not know the official rules but it just didn't seem right for some reason.

On another note, what is up with Vuk's cage on his helmet?

And did anyone else think the slash penalty against Yantsis was a bit, um, "embellished"?

 

[MatthewsMoustache]

FYI. Matt Gordon, Cambridge Redhawks. 12 games, 3 goals, 2 assists.

did see that. i just think at this point the ship is starting to sail. a 3rd round pick should have a steady spot in the lineup by his NHL draft year. that’s on the rangers imo. a lot of qmjhl teams would probably be willing to take him off waivers if he’s willing to go out east, which i don’t see why not as that’s where he is originally from. i think they should do that next season for his benefit

 

[bobber]

I get that. It just seemed weird and "not right". After the first goal, they took time off Damiani's one penalty? It did not seem right that after the first PP goal, Hamilton would continue with a 2 man advantage. It would make more sense that Meireles leave the box after the first goad and Hamilton continue with the one man advantage. Not saying it was the wrong call as I do not know the official rules but it just didn't seem right for some reason.

On another note, what is up with Vuk's cage on his helmet?

And did anyone else think the slash penalty against Yantsis was a bit, um, "embellished"?

Vuk got high sticked around the same time Meireles got his penalty. He was as mad as a hornet but those two refs both ignored him and he came back after the period with a cage on. He still talked to one looking for a reason .Those refs missed huge calls both ways.

 

[GeoBlue]

Vuk got high sticked around the same time Meireles got his penalty.

Is he okay or was the face mask just for show? LOL!